Apparatus for smelting



Aug. 21, 1928. 1,681,535

H; W. HALL APPARATUS FOR SMELTING Filed July 30, 1925 1 10 INVENTOR.

BY Y I W m M ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 21, 1928.

uNir-ED STATES PA TEuT OFFICE.

I HOWARD W. HALL, or woomanrnen, NEW JERSEY, ,nssreuon'roj amnnrean SMELT- ING AND Rnrmme COMPANY, on NEW YORK, n. Y., A co irona'rren or NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS ron sMEL'rxNG.

Application filed July 30, 1925. SerialfN'o. 46,947;

' This invention relates to smelting furnaces and methods for the smelting of ores, concentrates and similar materials; and the invention relatesparticularly to the formation of banks of the charge or material to be smclted so as to constitute one or more of the side and end walls of the furnace and correspondingly minimize furnace maintenance charges. it is advantageous to feed the charge, which is usually in the form of fine concentrates or ealcines, into the fur nace in such way as to form a substantially air-tight seal with the furnace arch and in the operation of the furnace the charge as it is sinelted from the inner face or portion of these banks of material is replaced from time to time so that asubstantially constant renewable bank of the material to be smelted forms the furnace wall and is present in any desired thickness. i It is thus possible to control or minimize heat losses and corrosion diificulties, especially since these banks of the charge may extend down into the furnace, hearth or crucible so as to prevent con tact between the fused slag and the hearth bottom.

In some cases it is advantageous to use a drum type of feed, and the fer-ding drums, of which any suitable number are preferably arrai'i ged around the sides and end of the furnace chi-imber, may be independently actuated so as o feed the desired quantities of mate- 1 the dillercnt zones of the furnace. l he drum feeders may force the lincly divided charge inward and uruvard so as to make ellectivc sealing contact with the arch, and where desired the heating' burners and cooperating: air ducts may extend through the bank of charge at the firi T of the furnace and preferably be .iml more or less throughout their length oriii ier end as well as supported at their rear end away from the furnace chamber. In many cases it is desirable to have a screw type of feed to handle the finely divided charge, and one or more feed screws may be arranged sons to. fccd'the material into hoppers or receiving chambers that may be located along; the one OI.Ill()lG sides or ends or the furnace; and in some cases the feed screvmay be mounted in slotted tubes or condn nd may extend more or less continuously around the 1 topile the ore up to the furnace sides andlower firing end of the furnace so as to continuously supply ample material thereto.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be obvious from the following particular description of one form of mechanism embodying; my invention or from an inspection ofthe accompanying drawinns; and the invention also consists in certain new and novel features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

i In the followingdescription and in the claims parts will beidentilied by specific names for convenience of expression, but they are intended to be as generic in their application to similar parts'as the art will permit I i 1 In the accompanying drawings I have shownfor purposes of illustration one form of. meehanisnr with certain modifications thereof embodying; theinvcntion, in which b Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation view taken along the, line ,l'-l of Fig". 2 showing the charging end ofa melting furnace having a .licarth formed with a depression therein for receiving molten material and showing ore being" fed thereto from each side of said charging end in two broad streams which forms side-walls for material which has been molten, and showing feeding paddle wheels which receive ore charges from chutes positioned near them and which serve roof or arch to cause the ore to form a sidewall. which continuous from the hearth to the roof of arch. The paddles further serve to feed the ore in such a manner that it reaches downwardly into the molten bathto a. point be low the slag; l'ine therein whereby the matcrial of the hearth is protected from any cerrosivc action of such slag-; and

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal view in section through the line 2-2 of the melting end of the furnace shown in the Fig. l.

, In the drawings the furnace base 1 has formed therein the hearth 3 which has the metal receiving depression l therein which slants upwardly on the ends as well as the sides to form a longitudinal basin or receptaele. In the cha receiving end which is shown in the wings above and to one side of the hearth there is provided at each side a pair of paddle wheels (3 mounted with their axle parallel to the length of the hearth. A ore passing space 7 between the bottoms of the paddle wheels and the floors or platforms 8 is provided by suitably spac ng said wheels above the platforms 8. Suitable means (not shown) are provided for rotating said paddle wheels downwardly and inwardly toward the hearth. Outside the paddle wheels there is provided for each of them a feeding hopper 10 which discharges close to the bottom of and into operative relation with the respective paddle wheels. About the sides and ends of the furnace there is provided in the usual manner a furnace wall 12 which has Suitable openings therein for said paddle wheels 6. The furnace is also provided with a suitable roof lat which at the charging end and as shown in the drawings extends laterally into close proximity to said paddle wheels (3, 6 suitable space being allowed for the proper rotation of the paddles. In the preferred forms the blades 16 on the paddle wheels are slanted backwardly and away from the direction of rotation thereof for purpose hereinafter fully described.

As shown in the drawings, the paddle wheels are of such diameter and are so spaced with respect to the several parts of the furnace that when ore is fed to them in proper amounts and the paddles rotated downwardly and inwardly toward the hearth the ore will be carried thereby to form with the roof and walls of the furnace a continuous enclosure. The back slant of the paddle wheel blades provides for the discharging of substantial amounts of charge inside the furnace and from near the top of the wheel whereby the material is caused to pile up from the roof of the hearth and across the feeding openings.

In the regular operation of the furnace above described, a suitable melting atmosphere being provided therein, ore is fed into the hoppers it), 10, the paddle wheels 6, 6 are rotated downwardly and inwardly toward the hearth of the furnace so ore fed to wheels 6 from hoppers 10 is carried through said passage 7 and over the platforms 8. The feeding of the ore is continued through the hoppers 10 to pile it up on the platforms 8 and at the inner sides of the respective paddle wheels 6 until it reaches the top 14 of the hearth whereby there is formed a continuous closure of ore between said platforms 8 and said top 14 thereby closing the space between the paddles 6 and their respective platforms 8 and between the paddlcs and the roof. By this time the ore has begun to slide from the platforms 8 and from the top of the pile down into the basin 4 of the hearth where metal molten from the ore is accumulated to a desired depth and drawn off attap holes provided in the discharge end of the furnace (not shown). During such melting additional ore is fed through the hoppers 10 in such amounts and at such rates as to keep a filling thereof between the platforms 8 and the roof 14. In the charging and melting portion of the hearth and at the bottom of the ore slide therein said ore forms side walls for the metal bath which protects the hearth from the corrosive action of the slag. This wall, of course, continues to be molten but with the continued replenishing of the charge by the paddle wheels the position of the ore wall is kept substantially constant between given limits. As indicated in the drawings the ore, as it slides into the hearth, flows around and laps over the sides of the hearth at these points to form a protective covering therefor. Likewise, the ore streams fed from the respective pair's flow sidewardly as well as transversely to join each other and bridge the space. between the wheels of each pair.

Although I have shown and described and have pointed outin the annexed claims certain novel features of my invention, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the several steps of my process and in its operation and in the form and details of the apparatus illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim 1. In a melting furnace having side walls and a roof, and an opening therein, means for feeding a charge to the furnace inwardly and upwardly through said opening and for keeping it piled above said opening while it is moving for forming a closure therefor.

2. In combination. in a melting furnace having a hearth, side walls and roof, and an elongated opening in' one of its walls, means for feeding a charge to the furnace through the entire width of said opening continuously and for keeping the charge piled up across the openingwhile it is being fed to form a closure for said opening.

3. In combination witha melting furnace having a hearth, side walls and roof, one of its walls having an opening therein, a paddle wheel mounted outside said opening on a horizontal axis and means for rotating the paddle wheel on its said axis downwardly and inwardly toward the interior of the furnace, the bottom of said paddle wheel be ing spaced from the bottom of said opening to provide a charge passage thereby, and the top of said wheel extending a substantial distance above the top of said opening.

4. In combination with a melting furnace having a hearth. roof and side walls with openings at opposite sides of said furnace, a paddle wheel mounted close to and outside each ofsaid openings for rotation on a horizontal axis in a direction downwardly and inwardly toward the interior of the furnace, said wheel being spaced away from the bottom of said opening to provide a charge passageway thereby, and extending above the top of said opening a substantial distance.

In combination with a melting furnace having a hearth, side walls and a root. one of its walls having an opening therein, a paddle wheel mounted outside said opening on a horizontal axis and means for rotating the paddle wheel on its said axis downwardly and inwardly toward the interior of the furnace, the bottom of said paddle wheel being spaced from the bottom of said opening to provide a charge passage thereby, and the top of said wheel extending a substantial distance above the top of said opening, said hearth being formed with a depression therein having the edge nearest said opening at such a distance therefrom that the charge fed through the opening by said wheel extends over said edge into the said depression.

G. In combination with a melting furnace having a hearth. root and side walls with openings at opposite sides of said furnace. a paddle wheel mounted outside each of said openings for rotation on a horizontal axis in a direction downwardly and inwardl i toward the interior of the furnace, said wheel being spaced away from the bottom of said opening to provide a charge passageway thereby, and extending above the top of said opening an appreciable distance, said hearth being formed with a depression therein having the edge nearest said opening at such a distance therefrom that the charge fed through the opening by said wheel extends over said-edge into the said depres sion.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

HOWARD W. HALL. 

